Coatesville looks to lease vehicles

COATESVILLE – City council voted Monday in favor of a proposal to lease city vehicles with the intent to purchase.

The city is “looking to purchase” three police, one fire vehicle and two public works trucks, financing them through the police department, John Marcareli, director of finance, told the council. He said the cost would be covered by the budget.

The proposal on the agenda involved a consideration of an ordinance authorizing the city of Coatesville to enter a leasing agreement with First Niagara Leasing, Inc. for purposes of acquiring police, fire and public works vehicles.

The lease includes an option to purchase for $1 at the end of the lease.

Marcareli said there is a “sufficient amount in the grant” to help with the cost of the fire vehicle. The grant comes through the Pennsylvania fire commissioner’s office. The Volunteer Fire Company and Volunteer Ambulance Service Grant, was expanded to include paid municipal fire departments.

The “net amount” of the leases includes warranties for the vehicles and is reduced by the trade-in value to be received for vehicles being traded in, Marcarelli said.

The police would get three 2013 Dodge Chargers with a five-year warranty for $94,260.63. The fire department would get a Dodge Ram 1500 with a four-year warranty for $29,328.64. Public works will get one Ram truck and one Ford F5 dump-truck with add-ons of a plow and a spreader for salt for $96,736.06 with a five-year warranty.

The trade-in involves six police vehicles, one fire vehicle and four public works vehicles.

President David Collins asked what the three other officers will do after the trade-in, with three less vehicles. Chief Jack Laufer answered that the police department will operate with nine vehicles, making for one less marked patrol vehicle.

Laufer said the trade-in for the police vehicles include four Ford Crown Victoria marked patrol vehicles at the “end of their useful life” and two unmarked utility vehicles that are “deemed too expensive to maintain.”

The chief expressed it is more ideal to have a rotation so the vehicles are not in use without a resting period between shifts.

“Recognizing the budgetary constraints that the city is operating with, three new vehicles at this time allows the police department to continue to provide the same level of police service while being fiscally responsible,” Laufer later said.

Marcarelli explained that the 2013 capital budget includes payments to be made this year to the leases. As the leases will run for multiple years, there will need to be an amount at least equal to pay for the leases being authorized.

The administration previously proposed to sell city property, Collins said, and one aspect of the money put into the budget could help purchase vehicles for the city. The city has not received the appraisals yet.

It is likely there will be new equipment budgeted in the future years, Marcarelli said, as the capital reserve budget is used to project spending and financing plans for a multi-year period.

“We must have these vehicles,” said City Manager Kirby Hudson.

The last purchase of a fire vehicle was 11 years ago. The last public works purchase was 2005 and the last purchase for a police vehicle was 2009.

“If it doesn’t fit into the budget then it is unreasonable,” said Councilman Joseph Hamrick.

Soon after, council went into an executive session.

The executive session, Collins said, clarified to the council that the proposal is the same “proactive” approach to leasing the vehicles that was originally presented to council previously.

The council voted on the leasing of the vehicles as three separate items for the fire department, police department and public works, passing all three items with a vote of 4-0.

The police requested the vehicles to be in black. There is no additional cost. The black vehicles are easier to make unmarked units for their detectives, Laufer said. Vehicles in black have a higher trade in value, he added.

Collins looked to Hudson to clarify the total cost, of leasing with the intent to purchase, will not go over on the budget.

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